11-24-23  I'm just posting this to try and save this blog from going to never never land.

Finally home to mother. 7,413 miles, 21 states, and 24 days on the road. All in all, this was a very nice trip. Got to see many old friends, made a few new friends, reunited with family members we haven't seen for awhile. Thanks again to Tom and Denise for all of the work they put into making the KY rally the great success that it was. Now, a good shower, a nights rest, give the sunburned areas time to heal and I'll be good as new. Probably too late for that, but I'll at least be as good as this old geezer can get.

They have these Indian trading post where they sell their handmade jewelery. This one sold out and won't reopen until tomorrow.

As you cross the UT?AZ border on 163 heading south, you get a view of Monument Valley. It is always spectacular, but nothing like when you go to the tourist viewing area. These two sicko's decided to pass and just head for the motel in Kayenta. I hate summer colds. Hope it isn't h1n1.

We were going to spend the night in Mexican hat and then try to make it home tomorrow. However, the motel selection didn't meet her standards so we moved on to Kayenta.

Anything to occupy her while I rest. She bought a package of plastic bubble making stuff and this was the biggest one she made. They were pretty cool.

There isn't too much happening here in Yakima other than a big soccer tournament that has all of the motels booked full. Patience is with her father today, and I tried to look up an old Indian friend of mine in Toppenish. I couldn't find him, or anyone who knew him. I guess when we get old, that happens now and then. We will start heading home tomorrow, but I hope to be able to ride through Canyon Lands in Utah on the way home, as well as Mexican Hat, and Monument Valley. I'll post some more pics in a couple of days.

We took her friends to the local McDonalds. Not too bad when you limit them to 4 items each from the dollar menu. They were all happy, me too!

She's still playing with my camera when I'm not watching. That means sleeping .

It was just music videos. Now it a ROCK BAND!!!!! If I don't survive, put me next to Kilo.

What could be more fun than a motel sleepover? Three of them singing along to music videos.

The father of a couple of Patient's friends owns this old KZ

1000 police special. It still has the siren on it.

After finishing lunch with her dad, she will have two days of good quality time with him. I will have two days of good quality rest!!!!!!!!!

Catching up with old friends.

And one for neice Hailey.

A big hug for Daddy after four months.

Now for some solid food to get rid of these shakes.

A nice train crossed the trestle while we were there.

I let her use the binoculars for a better view and she wanted to know why the image keeps shaking. Short answer......................too much sugar in the diet.

This is a natural salt lick and the goats are always visiting.

Unlimited natural beauty to behold in the park.

There are a lot of people out jogging here. There's also a lot of mosquitoes. I didn't like them much, but they seemed to fancy Patience and I.

They have some nice bus tours you can take, but we didn't. Getting to Yakima and seeing papa was the only thing on Patience mind today. Grampa understands.

One thing I've noticed is that the lodges at all of the Nat'l parks are beautiful.

My new full time gas jockey is doing a great job.

It was only 2,073.54 miles since the last curve in the road.

Is that a bend? Nope, just a bump.

Almost to Glacier and still no bends in the road.

We need to get a good nights rest. I think I am coming down with a chest cold after riding in the rain yesterday. The kid is just fine, but this getting old..................

I think I've had enough, just not sure of what.

We stopped here for dinner. Real friendly place, and pretty good food.

She's still trying to get the prairie dogs to answer her calls.

I've now seen three different sets of badlands. The one in AZ, SD, and now here in ND. All of the green grass in the ND ones make them unique and quite beautiful. I think it is a toss up as to whether the ND or AZ ones are the best.

Having lunch at their favorite diner.

These folks were viewing the park on horseback. Personally, I prefer my ironhorse, it's faster and less emissions on the road.

Patience liked these guys. There are literally thousands in the park, but really hard to get close to.

This was our goal for the day, the North Dakota badlands.

This is the biggest cow I've ever seen!

I wasn't able to even count the twist in the road. There aren't any .

North Dakota has miles and miles of grassland. It seems like there is a pond in every depression of the landscape.

We've had pretty fair weather so far on this trip. Mild temperatures, very little rain, and not too much wind. However, we should have stopped riding today about 10 minutes earlier than we did. We got caught in a severe thunderstorm in Fargo, North Dakota. It didn't take Patience too long to get warmed up. We are staying at the C'mon Inn and we have this nice hot tub right outside our room.

When traveling through Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota we saw a lot of farms like this. Different crops tended to dominate the different areas, but all were beautiful. We have come through so many states and cities I'm starting to feel like that Johnny Cash song "I've been everywhere man, I've been every................".

We passed a lot of interesting old cars today. Several hundred to be sure. There must have been a car show somewhere.